Revelation 9:1–12

9:1 When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, John saw a star fall from heaven to earth. The star probably represents an angel (cf. Judg. 5:20; Job 38:7), and some identify it as Satan or another evil angel. Such an interpretation is attractive, but elsewhere in Revelation it is always good angels who do God’s bidding, and hence the evidence for it being a satanic or evil angel is not convincing. It seems a bit more likely that a good angel is in view here, but certainty is impossible. The angel was granted the key to open the “bottomless pit.” We recognize again that the language is symbolic, for demons aren’t literally confined in a pit under the earth. The same language is used of the place of origin for the beast (Rev. 11:7; 17:8), and Satan is thrown into the abyss for a thousand years (20:3). The “key” grants the angel authority and rule over those in the pit (cf. 20:1), implying that the angel’s authority is granted him by God. This reading is confirmed by the words “he was given” (edothē). Whenever the clause “it was given” or “he was given” (or an equivalent phrase) appears in Revelation, God is the implied subject of the passive verb (6:2, 4, 8, 11; 7:2; 8:3; 9:3, 5; 11:1, 2; 13:5, 7, 14, 15; 16:8; 19:8; 20:4).

9:2 When the angel opens the shaft of the abyss, smoke billows forth as from a gigantic furnace. The sun and air are both darkened by the smoke spreading over the world, representing judgment (cf. Gen. 19:28; Isa. 34:10). In Joel, the sky is darkened by a locust horde (Joel 2:10), and here we find God’s judgment diffused throughout the world.

9:3 As John peers through the smoke, locusts emerge on the earth. Locusts represent judgment and were one of the plagues the Lord poured out on Egypt (Ex. 10:4). We actually have the singular “it was given” (edothē) to denote again that the authority granted to the locusts is finally from God, even if Satan is an intermediary agent. The biblical portrait of evil is complex, for God rules over evil without being morally blameworthy, while Satan is counted guilty for his motives and actions. The authority of the locusts is compared to the authority of scorpions. We have an important hint here that these locusts aren’t ordinary locusts, for scorpions are associated with the demonic elsewhere in Scripture and Jewish writings (Luke 10:19; cf. Deut. 8:15; Sir. 26:7). Furthermore, since their leader is Apollyon (Rev. 9:11), these are clearly not ordinary locusts.

9:4 The locusts are instructed, presumably by God (showing again that they are the agents of his judgment), to spare the green grass, new green growth, and trees. Instead, they are to concentrate their destruction on those who lack God’s seal on their foreheads. The 144,000, representing the people of God, have been sealed by him and protected from his wrath (cf. 7:1–17; cf. Ezek. 9:4, 6). Therefore the locusts attack unbelievers, those who will face the full brunt of God’s wrath. We have further and decisive evidence that the locusts aren’t literal, for these locusts have no interest in eating green grass or plants. No one has ever heard of locusts that don’t eat green plants! The locusts ate every plant when Egypt was devastated (Ex. 10:12; cf. Wisd. Sol. 16:9). But these locusts are interested only in attacking human beings, demonstrating that these are bizarre locusts. In fact, they are not locusts at all but demons from the abyss.

9:5 God did not permit (“it was not given [edothē]”) the locusts to kill unbelievers not sealed by God. Instead, they torment them for “five months.” Five is a symbolic number here, signifying a limited period of time. The torment is compared to the sting of a scorpion. We are reminded, although the context is different, of God allowing Satan to afflict righteous Job but not to kill him (Job 2:4–7). Here too, God determines the extent of the torment to be inflicted. Since the text is laden with symbolic language about locusts as demons, the stings should not be construed as literal stings. Indeed, John says the torture was like (hōs) the torment inflicted by scorpions. It is difficult to be certain what John has in mind. The first four trumpet judgments covered the created world from skies to oceans, and here John refers to human beings. The reference is probably to the psychological misery and unhappiness marking human existence. Perhaps the reference to five months indicates such torment isn’t constant or all-encompassing.

9:6 The life of human beings is beset by wretchedness, ultimately because we have rebelled against God. Hence, there is a desire for death (cf. Job 3:21; Jer. 8:3), but also a desire for life, and the two war in the human breast, tormenting human existence. Unbelievers want to die, but at the same time they fear to die. John is not saying every fallen human is suicidal or deeply unhappy. His point is that torment and a desire to die characterize human existence, particularly the lives of unbelievers. The experience is complex and difficult to describe, but in any case life on earth can be a kind of living death. The desire to die wells up in us, and yet death flees from those who have turned against God, since there is both a longing for death and a great fear of dying.

9:7 In the next several verses John describes the locusts. It is clear from the outset that the description isn’t literal, for the word “like” is used three times to indicate similes instead of literal descriptions. The locusts are compared to horses prepared for battle (cf. Job 39:20); they have something like golden crowns on their heads, symbolizing victory. Their faces are like human beings, perhaps suggesting they combine animal and human characteristics and have power over all creation. John alludes to Joel 2:4, where we find an actual locust invasion, with locusts compared to war horses.¹ Joel describes the judgment of the day of the Lord (cf. Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11), and John uses the imagery of locusts to describe God’s judgment on unbelievers. They are, so to speak, under siege, as demons are unleashed upon them. It is as if a human army with horses and authority were on the attack, but their foes are worse than any human army.

9:8 The description of the locusts continues, for their hair is like women’s and their teeth like lions’. The prophet Joel is again alluded to, for Joel declares, “A nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness” (Joel 1:6). Joel uses the image of lions’ teeth to describe locusts, and John, as noted above, takes up Joel’s imagery into his apocalyptic symbolism. He states that the locusts have hair like women’s. Long hair on locusts is ghoulish, ghastly, and eerie, which is John’s point. These are otherworldly creatures—what terrifies us in nightmares punishes the ungodly. We are reminded of Joseph Stalin, who heard wolves howling as he lay dying, as if they were descending upon him to tear him apart.

9:9 These terrible locusts have breastplates of iron (showing that they cannot be killed), and the sound of their wings is likened to the clattering of attacking chariots. The imagery is again derived in part from the locust invasion described in Joel. “As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle” (Joel 2:5). This locust army, John teaches, is on the attack; they are an invincible army. Humans not sealed by God are helpless to withstand the ferocity of the attack.

9:10 The torment inflicted by the stings of these scorpion-like creatures, adumbrated in verse 5, is picked up again here. We see repeatedly that these are not ordinary locusts, for locusts do not have “tails like scorpions.” Nor does the literal sting of a scorpion persist for five months. As noted in verse 5, the reference to scorpions shows the demonic character of these locusts, as they inflict agony, anguish, and distress on those not sealed by God.

9:11 The demonic character of the locusts is confirmed here, for the ruler and king of the locusts is the angel with authority over the bottomless pit. Actual locusts do not have a king (cf. Prov. 30:27), but these locusts do! Some think this angel is the one who fell to earth and released these demons from the pit (Rev. 9:1), i.e., Satan himself. But I have suggested that the angel in verse 1 is a good angel and shouldn’t be identified with Apollyon. Still, Apollyon in this verse is Satan himself. “Apollyon” means “destroyer”—one who destroys and ruins human beings, and the locusts become the agent of this destruction. The Hebrew “Abaddon” has the same meaning in this context, describing Satan’s destructive power. In the OT, Abaddon is often parallel with Sheol and designates the place of the dead and the power of death (Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Ps. 88:11; Prov. 15:11; 27:20). John extends the meaning: the place of death is now personified, for there is a king over the dead, Satan himself (cf. Heb. 2:14–15). Job calls death the “king of terrors” (Job 18:14), and those in Satan’s realm will not be spared from such terror.

9:12 The first woe, bringing much anguish and terror, has now been explicated, but there are two more to come (9:13–19; 11:15–19).